When Howard finally woke up, he was truly surprised, very much so. Unlike before, where he couldn't see anything, now he could see, he saw a wooden ceiling.

Even though it was just an ordinary wooden ceiling, it was the most beautiful thing he had seen in several months. 'I am finally born, finally out of that hell. And the best part, I slept through the entire delivery... or at least my consciousness did.'

'But anyway, that doesn't matter, I was born... and I'm here, in this room with a wooden ceiling.'

At that moment, the things that mattered most to him were to know what he looked like, to find out if he was cute or not, to know about his parents, and the world around him. After all, he would spend at least a few good years in this place, so he needed to know as soon as possible if he would have a good life or not.

However, while he pondered over these thoughts, some noises could be heard from a distance, but they were quickly approaching.

When they arrived, they were giant heads looking at Howard with a certain surprise, but they soon seemed to be laughing about the situation.

They were saying something, but Howard didn't understand. Unfortunately, it seemed he didn't receive a universal translator, so like any being, he would have to learn the natives' language.

What puzzled Howard the most was that... were these people somehow siblings? They seemed to be around the same age, like sixteen? They had physical resemblances, all of them had a strange type of silver straight hair, pale skin, and what caught his attention the most were their irises, so golden they looked like melted gold, and though it was too bright to see, they seemed to be glowing, all three of them.

There were two men and one woman, whom he didn't initially think could be his mother. Perhaps a sister... as his birth mother was only 25 when she had him, and he and all his friends from his previous life were already 22 or 23 and had not even thought about having children.

But, much to his surprise, while the three of them were still talking amongst themselves, the young woman picked him up with the utmost care. It was at this moment that Howard realized he still had no control over his body, but it was also when he could see how much love this woman had for him.

However, he couldn't dwell on it for long as she quickly uncovered one of her sleeves, bared her breast, and brought Howard's head to it, and instinctively, he began to feed.

He was relieved that he didn't feel uncomfortable about it and that it wasn't him doing it, but his body moving instinctively.

He knew his real mother was still on Earth, but this woman had cared for him for about nine months, so a minimum of respect was expected, and there was nothing better than knowing he didn't have to force himself to eat.

Unfortunately, Howard couldn't understand anything about what these people were talking about, and even though he found their ages strange, there was nothing he could do. Young parents were not unheard of in this world, and they didn't seem to be alone... 'Maybe this will work,' Howard thought as he tasted the strange flavor of breast milk. It wasn't disgusting, but he didn't like the situation and decided he would try to stop as soon as possible.

Stolen novel; please report.

After some minutes, one of the men had left the room, and the lighting seemed to darken. The mother finally stopped the feeding and put him back in his crib.

Seeing that the room was dark, she did something that Howard could only imagine in his wildest dreams. She spoke a very simple word, but even Howard felt it was imbued with power, and curiously, from his own consciousness, he could understand its meaning. As if that meaning materialized in front of him, a bowling-ball-sized sphere of light formed right above his crib. The light didn't hurt his eyes, but it was magic... just as Howard had hoped, he was now in a world of magic, and those eyes weren't a genetic or robotic mutation, but perhaps an effect of magic on people... or something like that. It didn't make much sense, but those eyes were unique, and that was the only explanation Howard had.

The most curious thing was that Howard completely understood what the woman said, and it was "Light," in its purest form.

But why would a single word invoke reality manipulation? Was this magic? Why was there no ritual, not even a hand gesture... just a word?

When Howard realized this, he quickly stored the word in his mind, not wanting to forget it. He knew it wasn't just an invocation. Surely, it asked for something, nothing comes from pure nothingness, and nothing is free. He knew that well because, at this moment, he couldn't speak. After he stopped drinking his mother's milk and tried to say something, only babbling came from his mouth.

Maybe it was normal for babies to have some physical limitation that truly hindered them from communicating in their first months of life. Perhaps it was just a matter of practice, as he remembered speaking in his consciousness, but the muscle memory didn't exist in this body... it was like learning to play a wind instrument, learning the embouchure, how much to blow to produce the desired note. Much more complex, for sure, but somewhat similar.

Fortunately, it seemed he had plenty of time for this. He was in a cozy-looking house, judging by the room. The house appeared to be made of wood, with dark beams that reminded him strongly of his grandparents' old house, which had been in his family for generations in Parma, Northern Italy. Though it didn't follow the local ancient architecture much, it still brought a sense of beauty akin to a half-timbered design. Maybe it shared the same spirit.

Howard knew very well that all old and new houses were different, and the old ones were much more interesting and beautiful, even if they might look unattractive from the outside. Contrary to what eyes tend to see, old houses have true souls, with their rooms and hallways filled with ancient spirits that guard old stories. Stories that houses with only a few decades would be horrified to know.

But why was he questioning all this now? Perhaps it was the lack of things to do while staring at that little beautiful sun in front of him, or maybe he was just remembering a tale he read in his past life that talked about something similar in different words. In fact, Howard always had this strange habit of holding onto thoughts he read in fantasy, whether from good or bad books, well or poorly written.

While Howard pondered all this, he didn't even realize that he was now feeling a different kind of sleep than he had felt for months. It was no longer a metaphysical sleep of his spirit, but a corporeal and mundane sleep, coming from his own infant body that couldn't handle being awake for more than a few hours. Especially when he only had a few days left. So, without even noticing, Howard fell asleep, and the last thing he thought was how much he wasted his old life on some silly readings that didn't add anything to him, and that now, without these means of entertainment, he would try to live his life to the fullest. He would also live on his own terms, no longer following the desires of those who believed they were above him, making choices that only affected Howard and no one else."

During that moment, just like throughout his entire life, Howard always loved his parents and relatives, but he could even see that many of the things he did, for better or worse, throughout his life were not choices that originated from himself. They were choices influenced by the people around him, choices that resulted in consequences that only reflected on Howard, and on no one else